I just installed wd sync and my new wd ex2. When I set it up on my computer I logged in as the user admin - when I should have logged in a a user i created on the storage device (lets say ‘bob’). Sync was nice and synced many many GB or multimedia files, as admin.

Since I have a multiuser, multicomputer environment, I want the files associated with user bob, so that bob can sync his files across multiple computers. Ditto for other users.

To get the sync set up for ‘bob’ I uninstalled the sync & access apps, and re-installed - and it ran the setup again. This time I set it up as ‘bob’ (I already created that account on the ex2), and again teh fiels are syncing.

Now my question: How do I remove (from the EX2) all the original files that were synced initially when logged is admin? I don’t want them taking up space.

Is there some sort of admin panel somewhere that shows me the file structure/system directly on the EX2, and lets me delete folder and/or files that I don’t want?

I looked for ‘shares’ for admin - thinking there would be something like admin/Documents (copied over from the computer) - but I cannot even find shares for user admin - and I can’t even see the ‘folders’ that are supposed synced for bob.

I don’t understand. Does my EX2 device only allow access to the files via an app like sync? If so how do I clean up the files I accidentally synced from the wrong user?

Am I just hopelessly confused?

(note: I am good with computers and tech - but I am pretty old-school - ie - I am used to files and directories and partitions and just working with these)

Generally one would use Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder to access the My Cloud on the local network. Once they access a Share one can remove files/user data from within those Shares that that are Public or for which they have full read/write access too.

I can’t even find the share for admin … this is part of what baffles me. I log into the Dashboard (as admin), and there are users listed under the Users tab, and admin is there, as is bob (and the other users I created). In the Shares tab there are shares for all my users, but nothing for admin.

I don’t understand where sync is putting the files (on the NAS), and how I can (for example) clean up the files that I did not mean to put there.

Yes, I have read the user guide (2 or 3 times) and searched the knowledge base… which is why I posted here. I am confused, probably because I am just stupid or something, but in any case I think I don’t understand where the sync app is putting the files (on the nas) and don’t understand if/how I can manage these files.

For example, when I set up sync the first time it asked me to log in to the ex2. I logged in as ‘admin’. It asked what directories I wanted to sync and I ticked Documents and Pictures etc… Where are the copies of these files stored on the ex2 (my nas) and how do I manage them. Can I even see or do anything the file files (on the nas) that the sync app stored there - or is my only access to use the sync app to see the files?

I suppose that I can get another machine that has not been set up yet, install sync and set it up as admin, then use sync to delete all the files. But this seems weird. Again, I think there is something fundamental that I do not understand.

I don’t use WD Sync anymore as it caused (or I had) many problems/issues with that software. I use third party sync software instead (Free File Sync).

Typically what WD Sync would/should do is create a Sync folder called “WD Sync” in the User Share (of the user who’s login is used when setting up WD Sync) on my first gen single bay My Cloud.

May or may not help but I did make a post a few years back that discussed how to change the path of WD Sync on Windows at the time. By looking at the WD Sync.config file one can see where the program is syncing from and where it is syncing to on the My Cloud device.

While one cannot apparently change the install location for the WD Sync program when one installs it. It is apparently possible to change the default WD Sync folder (the one that contains the files to be synced to the My Cloud) on the local computer by editing the two WD Sync.config files. One file (on my Win 7 PC) is located in the “C:\ProgramData\Western Digital\WD Sync” folder the other in the C:\ProgramData\Western Digital\WD Sync\<long string of characters>\WD folder.
Note: Procede at your…

Interesting. I think I understand now. I had a look again (via the dashboard) and I see one share called WDSync, admin has r/w access and the other users all say Deny Access. I could be wrong by I assume that the users share this space, and it is managed by the Sync application - ie - Sync adds/removes the files on behalf of each user who turns on Sync, and therefore I cannot access it directly on the EX2.

I am working on an OSX machine (client), and I had a look around for .config files (I used ‘find’ from a shell to try and locate them) but I could not find them. Then I found a different post in these forums that suggests on OSX an SQL lite db is used instead of a config file. lol. In my experinece it is usually windows that uses obscure ways of storing config info for applications, and unix just uses .config files.

Anyway, I give up. The stupid files that were put there by admin can stay, and be inaccessible and waste space forever. Actually it is probably part of the plan from WD: don’t give people any way to clean up the nas; this way it will fill up and they will have to buy another one. Taking a lesson from apple I guess.

The main problem (among the various problems with WD Sync) some have found with WD Sync is it creates a hidden folder and then proceeds to fill it with backed up files that were synced. It is supposed to be a “feature” in that one can recover a previous file version or deleted file. The downside is that some have eventually filled the free space of their My Cloud due to this hidden folder. The workaround is to go in using SSH and remove the hidden folder (.WDSync) on the My Cloud.

One can generally remove synced files from the My Cloud using Mac Finder or Windows File Explorer assuming they have full access to the Share that is storing the Sync folder on the My Cloud. It is possible there are additional settings on the EX2 series that affect how folders and Shares are seen/viewed versus the limited settings on the single bay/single drive My Clouds (the general subject of the My Cloud subforum).